Each year, the program accommodates students from Japan and South Korea — two of the CNMI’s top tourism markets.
In welcoming visiting students from the Sanpo-en group and the International Youth Association of Japan/Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai or KSKK, Apatang said his office collaborated with 10 host families.
He said his office also coordinated the travel of 29 local students and one chaperone to South Korea in partnership with the Korean Community of Saipan.
For their part, the students from South Korea who visited the island also attended classes at Grace Christian Academy, Kagman High School, Marianas High School, Mount Carmel School, Saipan Southern High School, and Northern Marianas Academy, the mayor said.
He said the exchange program allows students to learn the culture and history of the place they are visiting, and to experience first-hand the life of the local people. The students also get to visit important landmarks such as museums, temples, government offices, major business companies, shopping centers and, in Japan, the Tokyo Disneyland, the mayor said.
